Senior Project Manager
United Nations Office for Project Services
About United Nations Office for Project Services
UNOPS is dedicated to action. Working across humanitarian, development, and peace and security efforts, UNOPS unique focus on expanding implementation capacity supports the UN and our partners to deliver impact where it’s needed the most.
Through our self-financing, demand-driven model, we provide our partners with efficient and cost-effective services in infrastructure, procurement, project management, human resources and financial management – advancing efforts to build a more peaceful, fair and sustainable world.
From responding to urgent needs to accelerating climate action and sustainable development, we’re focused on providing practical solutions that enable our partners to act fast, maximize efficiency, leverage resources and deliver impactful results at scale.
Job Description
The Senior Project Manager (SPM) is responsible for creating the Implementation Plan, using the Project Initiation Document (PID), Legal Agreement and having a thorough understanding of the terms, conditions, and the respective roles and responsibilities of the partners/stakeholders, to ensure the project outputs are capable of meeting the business cases for both UNOPS and the partner. The success of the project and hence of the Senior Project Manager will be based on the defined Success Criteria.
The SPM will be the senior UNOPS officer in Uganda and will thus be expected to take on certain representational functions for the organisation. S/he may also be assigned to manage other projects in Uganda.
Responsibilities
Plan the overall project activities (project implementation plan), maintain a detailed project work plan, monitor project performance, and exercise adaptive management as appropriate to ensure delivery of the project outcomes
Embed sustainability dimensions including social and gender inclusion, environmental and economic aspects into project life span
Manage the production of the required outputs, taking responsibility for overall progress and use of resources and initiating corrective action where necessary
Ensure that quality of work packages and deliverables complies with the quality requirements defined in the Implementation Plan
Liaise with any external suppliers or account managers
Manage acceptance and delivery of work packages
Monitor project progress ensuring that work packages are being executed properly
Control project and work packages changes
Accept goods, services or works delivered by suppliers
Lead contract management duties including supplier performance evaluation
Identify and manage in a timely manner, potential risks (including environmental and social safeguard risks) and issues and advise mitigating measures to senior management/ Project Board
Regularly update the project’s Risk Register and ensure appropriate risk management measures are in place
Identify and report potential business opportunities for UNOPS
Comply with all organizational policy and specifically the Project Management Manual
Prepare/adapt all relevant plans for approval by the Project Board
Manage the reporting obligations defined in the Legal Agreement(s) and in the Implementation Plan
Ensure maintenance of the project files and lessons learned are recorded
Manage budgets, cash flow and obligations to ensure that deliverables are met and payments to contractors and personnel are received on time
Understand and manage UNOPS overheads, allocable charges, and related corporate charges as they apply to the project
Manage expenditures against the budget
Provide a formal handover of the project to the closure manager
Support project audit activities
Prepare and issue regular project and/or financial reports in accordance with Partner and UNOPS requirements
Regularly review project status, evaluating performance criteria (scope, cost, schedule, and quality)
Maintain diaries and progress reports
Provide routine oversight and analysis of delivery data within the dashboard system
Ensure all project team members track and regularly update milestones and targets
Develop stakeholder profiles and facilitate the formulation of stakeholder engagement strategies
Establish solid working relationships with the Project Board, client, and key stakeholders
Enable the formulation of project communications plans. Coordinate internal project communications
Coordinate stakeholder engagement and communication, ensuring effective timing and interdependency management
Ensure stakeholders are aware of project activities, progress, exceptions and can accept handover outputs
Work with internal stakeholders to ensure projects comply with audit requirements
Work with procurement/purchasing staff to ensure effective interface with suppliers' quality systems
Coordinate quality reviews of project documents and deliverables
Provide quality control for management outputs
Encourage routine and effective capacity building activities to build long-term sustainable capacity of staff
Interact with other Project Managers and the wider PM community to share case studies, lessons learned, and best practices
Contribute to oversight of lessons learned procedures and participate in Communities of Practice
Research and log lessons learned throughout the project life span
Provide feedback to Practice Groups on policy and guidance
Lead and motivate the project management team
Ensure behavioural expectations of team members are established
Ensure performance reviews are conducted fairly, accurately, and timely
Select, recruit, and train a team as required
Ensure safety and security for all project personnel and comply with UNDSS standards
Requirements
Master’s degree (or equivalent) in Civil Engineering, Architecture, Project Management, or other relevant discipline required
Combination of Bachelor’s degree with 2 additional years of relevant work experience may be accepted
Certification in Project Management (PRINCE2, PMP, etc.) is an asset
Complete the UNOPS PMM, UNOPS PMM Infra perspective, and oneUNOPS Projects training within 3 months of joining
Professional certification from an accredited institution (PEng., CEng., etc.) is an asset
Minimum 7 years’ experience implementing and managing infrastructure projects, preferably bridges
Excellent written and oral communication skills in English
Experience in Electronic Bridge Management System, contract management, FIDIC contracts, planning/applying Health & Safety procedures, developing procurement strategies, Microsoft Project, developing countries/post-conflict environments, risk management, working in multicultural teams, managing teams, report writing, technical documentation, quality assurance methodologies
Contract Management, Project Delivery, Project Management, Project Planning, Quality Assurance, Resource Management, Risk Management, Stakeholder Engagement
Strong analytical and problem-solving capabilities
English: Fluent (Required)